Newt Gingrich Defends Beto’s Resume: Abraham Lincoln Only Served One Term in House

Former Speaker of the House and current Fox News contributor Newt Gingrich sort of defended newly-announced Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke‘s resume by noting that Abraham Lincoln only served one term in the House of Representatives before becoming president.

On Thursday morning’s edition of Fox & Friends, Gingrich started off by noting that O’Rourke lost his Senate race against Ted Cruz, but co-host Brian Kilmeade noted “He got close. It has not been blue in a long time.”

Co-host Steve Doocy then asked Gingrich about O’Rourke’s three terms in the House, which is when Gingrich offered just the second-worst example of Republicans Making It About Lincoln this week.

“I think that Lincoln had only one term in the House and lost a Senate race,” Gingrich noted, which is correct.

That’s where the love ended, as Gingrich went on to add that Lincoln “Ended up as an amazing president. Maybe that will happen to Beto O’Rourke, but I somehow doubt it.”

Gingrich failed to note that a more recent Republican president, Donald Trump, served zero terms in the anything ever before being elected, making the argument about presidential resumes moot for eternity.

Gingrich also had some backhanded praise for Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), telling the hosts that he is “unequivocal” that she will be the Democratic nominee.

“African-American, woman, largest state in the country, has a great story,” Gingrich said of Harris. “I think she is very effective campaigner. I think she will end up being the nominee.”

But he went on to say “I didn’t say she would win a general election, where issues matter,” and that “In a Democratic primary, there’s nothing nutty enough to disqualify you.”

When reached for comment, the 2016 Republican presidential primary said, in a prepared statement, “[LOUD RECORD SCRATCH SOUND EFFECT]”